The Samsara, Port of Fandom, Monday Afternoon

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had invited Duke over to her boat after class. It was not a big deal. Except it felt like one, since they were still in the process of -- well, getting Duke settled into the idea that the Samsara wasn't some sacred space he wasn't allowed in.

So Octavia was almost glad that she had something else to think about when they actually made it there. See, stumbling onto a class and joining them had been a good idea right up until the point where the class was done, and it was time to come out of the water, and realize you had not brought a change of clothes.

Thankfully, the weather was warm enough for walking to the docks in clothes that were still wet all over, but it hadn't been the best thing Octavia had ever experienced.

"I should have fruit if you want a snack," she told Duke, as she stepped down into the cabin. "I'm gonna change into something less... damp."

[ooc: For the snogon!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

He could read it in her face, and gave himself a quiet little mental pat on the back before chewing normally.

"All I really want for my birthday," he said, quieter now, and serious without being dour, "is us. The three of us, together. Anything else is just . . . set dressing."

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah," Octavia agreed softly. "I get that."

Especially after San Diego.

"Still," she continued, a little lighter, "I'm assuming the Bahamas would make for some pretty great set dressing."

[betterthanaplan]

"Oh, fantastic set dressing. I was just telling Luce, the Caribbean has some of my favorite beaches in the world."

[okteiviakom]

"Aren't all beaches basically the same?"

She did not actually think that. She just wanted to see his reaction.

[betterthanaplan]

And Duke knew his cue when he heard it. He pressed his hand to his chest. "You dare say that to me! On this, the day of my . . . second week of classes!" Eh, she wouldn't get the reference anyway. "I will have you know no two beaches are actually the same. Just compare Fandom and that cute little lagoon we found."

[okteiviakom]

"I don't want to," Octavia replied without missing a beat, "because then I would have to think about how we're not at that lagoon right now."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded. "Point." He reached over to run his non-fruit hand up and down her calf. "Maybe we should take a longer break sometime. Go beach hopping, just the three of us. We can show you our favorite places."

He was leaning a bit hard on the three of them, without even realizing it. Lucifer's odd mood from Friday had stuck in his head, and he wanted to hang onto what the three of them had found over their vacation as long as he could.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia would be the last to discourage him from doing that. She'd run into Lucifer's odd mood already on the previous Sunday, and even the week's head start hadn't let her shake it off any better than Duke was managing it.

Her hand was just slowly petting his hair, now.

"Could be nice," she murmured. "Maybe I might find some new favorite places of my own."

[betterthanaplan]

“You should,” Duke said, enjoying the petting. “Everyone needs some nice favorite spots.”

[okteiviakom]

"Almost makes it sound like I don't already have any," Octavia noted quietly. "I do."

[betterthanaplan]

“I don’t doubt it.” Duke peered up at her. “Tell me about them?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's hand kept moving over his hair even as she met his gaze again.

"Anywhere near the stream in the preserve," she told him softly. "That's the first that comes to mind." Yes, even with her freakout last week.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded. "That's a very good stream."

[okteiviakom]

"Do you often compare streams?" Octavia teased, gently.

[betterthanaplan]

"Don't need to," Duke said, giving her calf a little hug. "We've already found the best one."

[okteiviakom]

Goddammit, Duke, way to make Octavia's expression go all wobbly and soft and amused all at the same time.

Her fingers slid out of his hair and tried to flick at his nose. "So I guess you haven't been keeping any better streams secret from me."

[betterthanaplan]

“I would never!” Duke lived for getting that kind of expression out of her. “I’m a sharer.”

[okteiviakom]

"Good," Octavia said. "Because I really like our stream." Yeah, it was theirs, now. (Not that that was new, really. It was part of why she'd gone there, specifically, on her awkward preserve trip last week.) "I'd want to know if it had competition."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke would guess it was, yeah. If he’d known that was where she’d gone.

“Any other favorite places I should know about?”

[okteiviakom]

"Well, there's the port, obviously," Octavia replied wryly, with a little gesture around them with her free hand. "Even if it's busier now than I maybe like it."

The little curve of her lips fell away as she hesitated for a second. Thinking it over.

"But there's... this one street corner, near where Dr. Baker's office is."

[betterthanaplan]

“Oh yeah?” Duke shifted, curling up against her leg. “She’s in New York, right?”

[okteiviakom]

That felt more grounding than Octavia would have expected it to.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, she is." It was pretty far to go for therapy, but then she would probably have had to portal out to Karolina's Baltimore, too.

Her hand settled at the back of his neck.

"There's not really anything special about it," she continued. "The corner, I mean. There are probably hundreds just like it all around the city. But... It's there on the way to the portal place. And it just feels... infinite, somehow. All you see is tall buildings just stretching on."

[betterthanaplan]

“Huh.” Duke leaned his head on her knee. “I never thought about cities that way.”

They’d always felt very finite to him.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged a little. "It's just a feeling."

One that probably came more easily to her because she didn't really have that much experience with big cities. Her imagination wasn't bound by pre-existing expectations of what things were likely to look five, ten, twenty blocks away.

"But there's something nice about it."

[betterthanaplan]

“You’ve never liked being closed in.”